Travel Information

Many major Ontarian cities are situated along the VIA Rail system. We encourage you to plan your trip using the VIA Rail website.

Tips:

• Most VIA Rail transits to/from Kitchener-Waterloo will require at least one transfer in either Toronto or London. For those who would transfer through Toronto, it might be more economical to use the GO Transit system between Toronto and the University of Waterloo.

• VIA Rail offers a discount for booking tickets on Tuesdays.

• Many Canadian universities offer VIA Rail discounts to their Alumni. Such universities include: UW, UofT,  York, uOttawa, Western, McGill, uLaval, TMU, Queen's, uWindsor. If you received a diploma from a Canadian university in the past, we encourage you to check if you are eligible to an Alumnus discount.

You are encouraged to plan your trip yourself using the GO Transit website. All information below is only shown for convenience.  Note that students get a significant discount on GO transit, provided that they use a PRESTO card  and that they activate the student discount ahead of time.

BUS #25/25C/25L : This bus connects the University of Waterloo to Square One GO (Mississauga). This bus has multiple departures (roughly every 15-30min) everyday, including the weekend.

BUS #30/30A : This bus connects the University of Waterloo to Bramalea GO (Brampton). It has multiple departures (roughly every hour) everyday, including the weekend.

BUS #17 : This bus line starts in Hamilton, passes through McMaster University and the University of Guelph, and ends at the University of Waterloo (or vice-versa). Note that this bus only runs on weekdays, so it cannot be used on the weekend.

KI Train : The train can be a convenient way to travel between Union Station (Toronto) and Kitchener GO. The LRT (see Grand River Transit) can then be used to reach the University of Waterloo. However, there are only few departures that go all the way to Kitchener, and none of them are on the weekend.

The Grand River Transit (GRT) is our local bus system, which also includes the Light Rail Train (LRT). The cash fare on the bus is $3.75. The same price holds for the LRT, but one must purchase a ticket from the machine at one of the LRT stations. Note that PRESTO cards cannot be used to pay GRT fares.

Remark: For those who use VIA Rail or the GO Train, you will arrive at the Kitchener Train Station (also known as Kitchener GO), where you can use the LRT to reach the University of Waterloo. The closest LRT station is called Central Station.

There are buses that travel between Toronto Pearson YYZ, to Waterloo. GO Transit is the most popular. GO Transit e-tickets bought in advance are valid for 7 days. Therefore, you should not book and prepay in advance on the GO website until within 7 days of intended travel. 

With Waterloo Taxi, you can reserve a taxi on the Waterloo Taxi online form or call at +1 (519) 888-7777. 

UP Express is a direct journey from Toronto Pearson International Airport to Union Station, Downtown Toronto. When at Union Station, transfer to VIA Rail train or GO train. 

Reserve door-to-door service on the Airways Transit website. 

Take ON-401 W towards London and then take exit 278 to merge onto ON-8 W toward Kitchener/Waterloo.